Will You Be My Dead Poet?
by CherryCokesandWinterSmokes
Summary: A collection of Dead Poets Society Valentine's Day stories. Rated T for language, violence, romance, and slashy pairings. Please review!
1. Knox and Chris

"_**Expectation is the root of all heartache." – William Shakespeare**_

** Knox and Chris: February 13****th**

Knox slammed the heavy oak door of the living area where they held their study sessions closed. The crowd of Dead Poets lounging about the room looked up to see Knox leaning against the door sighing dramatically. They rolled their eyes simultaneously and resumed their work. Every time Knox burst in with a lovesick puppy expression, it had something to do with—

"Chris! Guys, I need some serious help!"

Charlie Dalton snorted. "I'm so glad you're finally coming to terms with your mental illness, Mr. Overstreet. I would be more than willing to give you the number of a few psychiatrists who might be interested in working with you," Charlie said mock-sympathetically.

"Anyways... what does a guy like me get a girl like _that _for Valentine's Day?"

"You could do her a favor and stop stalking her," Charlie suggested.

"Charlie, you just don't know what its like to be in love," Knox stated contemptuously.

"Sure I do. I'm in love with a girl every night of the week. Speaking of, I better plow if I wanna find one in time." Charlie abandoned the group but not before stealing an imperceptible glance at Meeks.

"Yeah uh... me too... I'm pretty busy with this trigonometry homework. Sorry Knox," Meeks said nervously and bolted out to follow Charlie.

Neil put his hand on Knox's shoulder. "All you have to do is give from the heart. If she really loves you, she'll love whatever you give her."

Knox thought long and hard. He _was _definitely a hopeless romantic, so the gift had to be classic. Money was no object, of course. He wanted to be with Chris forever... "I've got it! Thanks, Neil, you're the best!" Knox flung on his scarf and jacket as he was trying to get out the door which only succeeded in him tangling his cashmere scarf on the doorknob and smacking face first into the solid wood. However, his bleeding nose did not deter him from his goal as he pedaled his bike through the heavy snow drifts and flurries of snowflakes that didn't allow for him to see two feet in front of him.

**...**

**February 14****th**

Valentine's Day this year was a school day. Knox Overstreet was so committed to his cause that he cut his classes for the day just to go give his gift of ultimate devotion to Chris Noel. He rode his bike through the snow-covered grass allowing the cold wind to whip his face until it stung. He didn't even allow himself to wear a coat in the fear that it would mess up the flow of his outfit. After all, he had went festive and decided on a red and pink striped tie that offset the navy on his blazer perfectly.

Knox hopped off his bike and threw it on the ground outside the door. The hallways of the crumbling public school were packed with girls getting romantic gifts from their boyfriends. Knox smirked. Cheap gas station roses and boxes of heart-shaped chocolates from CVS were nothing in comparison to the beauty that was held in his pocket.

"Chris! Chris!" He spotted her wearing a preppy pale pink sweater that offset her light blonde hair and pale skin perfectly. Knox caught up with her before she could quietly run off.

"Chris... hey. I'm glad I caught up with you. I... I've got something for you," Knox fumbled with his blazer to pull the box out of his pocket.

Chris tried to hide her face in shame. Thankfully, no one seemed to be paying attention to them. "Knox... can't we please do this somewhere else?" Chris seemed desperate to get rid of him.

Knox slowly stooped to one knee and pulled the velvet box out of his blazer pocket. He cleared his throat. "Chris... I love you more than anything and I think you feel the same way about me, even though I might annoy you... Anyways, if I don't spend the rest of my life with you there's no point in living. I figured what better day to tell you this than today, on this day. Would you accept this ring as a token of my undying devotion?"

Chris knew it was sweet but spending the rest of her life with someone she wasn't even going out with in high school? It was insane. And Knox was impulsive. Chris may not have been sure about her feelings about Knox's sudden proposal, but Chet Danberry sure was.

Chet grabbed Chris by the shoulder and pushed her back. "What the hell is going on here?" He looked from his girlfriend, to Knox's paled face, to the incredibly large diamond nestled in the velvet interior, and back again. He grabbed Knox by the tie with brute force and pulled him up to face him. He looked down on the much shorter Knox and lowered his face to his so close that Knox could feel his breath. "Are you trying to _propose? _To my girlfriend!"

Chet tossed him back into the lockers. The whole school seemed to be watching the scene unfold. "Look, can't we just talk about this?" Knox straightened his tie and tried to negotiate like the lawyer he was expected to become.

Chet- being the stereotypical jock- was not in the mood to "negotiate." His fist sailed through the air, landing square on Knox's nose and knocking him to the ground. Another punch cracked his jaw and Knox groaned on the linoleum from the pain of the blood and the broken bones. Chet Danberry spat above him, "Don't you ever let me see you around here again or you'll be dead, you understand?"

The final bell sounded against the silence that followed and the hallways quickly cleared. Chris walked off with Chet, his arm draped over her shoulder like she was his property. And, Knox thought, considering the display that had just occurred, maybe she was.

Knox stumbled outside in the frigid air only to realize that his bike had been stolen. He was going to have to walk back to Welton alone. Once he hit the main road, a car stopped him.

**...**

Knox woke up alone in a hospital bed, unsure of how he got there.

"Who brought me here?" Knox asked the nurse in confusion.

"I'm not sure. They said you were walking on the main road and stopped by their car. Once you got in, you passed out. They noticed the blood and decided to take you here. Some old couple, I think."

Knox thanked her kindly as she left the room. He looked in the mirror near his bedside. _Happy Valentine's Day _he thought sullenly. At least he was festive though.

After all, blood was red.

**A.N. – I will be continuing this with three other short story pairings. I hope you enjoyed. Also, I know it's a little late since Valentine's Day has passed but... yeah.**

**P.S. Whoever reviews gets proposed to by the Dead Poet of their choice :) (And thanks to Cloudy for giving me the idea to say that.)**


	2. Pitts and Cameron

"_**Love is being stupid together." – Paul Valery**_

** A.N. What I would like to make very clear before beginning: This story is not what you think it is...**

**Pitts and Cameron: February 14****th**

Richard Cameron strolled casually into his room on a Thursday afternoon. His brown leather penny loafers twisted on the wood floor while his hands resided in the pockets of his expensive chinos. He carried himself with his usual smug demeanor and was pleased to see that Charlie, his overly sexual, annoying pest of a roommate, was nowhere to be found. As he smoothed the covers on his bed for the hundredth time that day, something new caught his eye. There was a bouquet of a dozen red roses sitting on his oak bedside table; totally disrupting the flow of the space. He plucked the card from the flowers and began to read the flawless cursive script.

_Dear Cameron,_

_I was hoping you would be able to meet me for dinner at the Oak Room tonight. I think that you're incredibly handsome and I'd love to go out with you._

_Love,_

_Your Secret Admirer_

Cameron's mouth hung open in shock. There was a girl who was in love with him?! He did a double-take at the card to make sure it hadn't said Charlie instead. Cameron smirked to himself once he accepted the fact that a girl was interested in him. Granted, he didn't believe in love. As his father always said, wealth is more important than amorous relations. But at least now the other boys wouldn't be able to make fun of him for never having kissed anyone before or never having been on a date. Cameron pushed the sleeve of his blazer back to check his gold Rolex watch. He needed to start getting ready.

**...**

Richard Cameron stood in the lobby of the Oak Room. It was the nicest restaurant around Welton. You couldn't even buy a hamburger without spending at least twenty dollars. He checked his watch again impatiently. He had been waiting for half an hour since seven o'clock and she hadn't shown. He straightened his tie and sprayed some breath spray into his mouth. There was a mirror in the waiting area that he used to check his hair, which he regretted not putting enough product in.

"Would you like a table, sir? Or are you still waiting for someone?" The maitre'd asked with clear contempt.

"It'll just be a few more minutes," Cameron smiled awkwardly. "Where _is _she?" he said quietly to himself. He continued to check his watch with annoyance.

"Surprise," said a voice behind him that sounded like silk.

He turned around quickly. It was about time. "AH! What are you doing here?!" Cameron practically shouted until he released everyone was staring. Again, quietly, "what are you doing here?" The irritation in his voice was still present, however.

"Surprise, Dick. Aren't you happy to see me?" Charlie Dalton smiled smugly at Cameron.

"You still haven't answered my question, Dalton. What in God's name are you doing here?"

"Didn't you get the memo, Dick? I'm your secret admirer." Charlie couldn't even wipe the grin off his face. "You see Dick, I'm all for a good holiday prank, particularly since I can't stand you. And so I decided to have a little fun with your romantic life. Get you all dressed up, thinking there's a gorgeous girl who's madly in love with you. And then, I would show up, disappointing you more than you could have imagined and forcing you to go back home and jerk off into your old _Playboy's._"

Cameron glared at him. This was low even for Charlie. "Fuck you, Dalton," Cameron said harshly. He retreated out the front door to his waiting black Cadillac.

**...**

Cameron stormed through the front doors of Welton. No one was inside tonight so he could be as loud as he wanted. The dormitory halls were eerily quiet as he pounded the wooden planks. Suddenly, he realized a light was on in Pitts' room. Cameron walked in on Pitts with every type of liquor imaginable. Bottles of vodka, tequila, rum, whiskey, gin, and everything else a person could think of littered the floor around him. The stock of full bottles surrounding him rivaled the stash of a bartender.

"Did something bad happen with you too?" Cameron said as he plopped down next to him.

"Naw, man. I was out with a ton of chicks all day. But then I decided, hey, why not have a little celebration of my own?" He hiccupped and grabbed another bottle of rum by the neck, taking a large swig. "You want some?" Pitts held out the bottle.

Cameron didn't usually drink; especially not hard liquor but after tonight, he felt he owed it to himself to let loose and have a little fun. "What the hell?" Cameron laughed and grabbed the bottle. He took a large gulp and started to cough from the burn. He drank a little too much at once for someone who never drank.

"Cheers!" Pitts said happily, raising a bottle of gin to Cameron's rum bottle. They clinked their bottles together and continued to chug down the liquor like it was water.

Pitts turned out to be quite a happy drunk and, ironically enough, so was Cameron. They listened to the sappy love songs that came on the radio and complained about women. Eventually, their attitudes began to change. Whether it was the songs on the illegal radio or the amount they had to drink, they began to become the weepy drunk.

"Pitts, man. I just want you to know that I... I love you, man."

Pitts sniffled. "I love you too, man." Pitts stood and swayed from side to side. He pulled Cameron up with him. "Aw this is a great song," Pitts continued to tear up. He began shuffling across the floor by himself. Cameron saw this as an opportunity to join him.

They shuffled to _You Are So Beautiful _by Joe Cocker with their arms wrapped around each other, practically weeping into each other's shoulders until Pitts suddenly lost the last bit of dignity he had held onto and collapsed onto the floor.

"Sleep it off, pal, sleep it off," Cameron slurred as he stumbled out the door to his own room and collapsed into his own bed. _Sleep it off..._

**...**

**February 15****th**

Cameron awoke with a massive headache the next morning. His hair was mussed around his face and he felt like he had been hit by a bus. It was definitely after twelve and Charlie was still nowhere to be seen. _Good, _Cameron thought to himself. He was suddenly hit with what happened last night like a wave. Being stood up and Charlie playing the joke and then getting drunk off his ass. _Great. Hopefully my parents won't find out about this._

He stumbled groggily out of bed and into the hallway. The other boys were around waiting for him to wake up.

Meeks walked past and smirked, "nice video, Cameron. Looks like you had fun last night."

Everywhere he looked boys were pointing and laughing. Cameron had no idea what was going on. He pulled Neil to the side as soon as he saw him. "Neil, what the hell is going on? What video? What's everyone talking about?"

"Oh... you haven't heard?" Neil pulled Cameron into his room and showed him the video on his computer. It was a video of Cameron dancing with Pitts; a video that had went _viral _overnight. Cameron searched frantically for the YouTube name. _Who could have posted this? Who even knew about that? _Cameron's eyes widened in their sockets.

"CHARLIE!"

** A.N.N. Hope you enjoyed! The Oak Room thing is from **_**Scent of a Woman **_**just because I couldn't think of another fancy restaurant. And I do not know if it's real or not.**


	3. Todd and Neil

***My DPS Moment* So, at this restaurant by my house, the two times I have been there recently, there is a waiter who looks JUST LIKE TODD! And he's shy and adorable just like him and it pretty much made my life.**

** P.S. There is no Cheeks for this story :( I was planning on writing it but now it's too far gone and I won't have time. So next year! **

"_**At the touch of love everyone becomes a poet." - Plato**_

**Todd and Neil:** **February 14****th**

Todd was utterly melancholy as he looked on towards Neil. Neil was barely visible through the sea of girls surrounding him; thrusting Valentine cards and their phone numbers on perfume scented paper into his hands. He looked exactly where he was meant to be; Mr. Popular. Mr. Perfect. Soaking up the adoration around him like it was necessary for life.

"Are you really still obsessing over Neil, Todd? I think this is starting to get unhealthy. Plus, Valentine's Day is a total Hallmark holiday. Why do you even care?" Meeks said almost unsympathetically. He didn't understand Todd's love for Neil Perry; hell, even Todd didn't understand it sometimes.

"I'm not obsessing, Meeks. It's just... look at the way they fall all over him," Todd explained.

"Yeah, like you're doing right now," Meeks rolled his eyes. "But he seems like he's just brushing them off so maybe you'll be in luck, Anderson. I'll leave you to it." Meeks walked hastily away, but Todd figured it was because he wanted to go find Charlie, not because he cared about Todd and Neil's privacy.

Neil fought his way through the crowd of begging, desperate women until he got to Todd, who was his goal from the start.

"How'd you get rid of them?" Todd asked.

"I told them Charlie Dalton was in close proximity, probably with his shirt off. It worked pretty well, as you can see," Neil smiled his golden boy smile. The hallways were completely deserted.

"But look at all this stuff. Looks like I'm gonna have a lot of dates coming up, huh?" Neil continued smiling at his friend.

"Yeah, I guess," Todd said with forced enthusiasm. _Dates. With girls. If it's not a date with me, Neil shouldn't even consider it._

They walked down the linoleum floored hallways in awkward silence for a while; the only sound was the slight shuffle of their patent leather dress shoes on the fading ground.

"Oh, I almost forgot! Can you come by the theatre tonight, around nine? I wanted to show you something I've been working on. You know, for the new play."

"Yeah, I guess," Todd said glumly. It wasn't a date. But at least he would get to see Neil again.

"Great!" Neil looked him in the eye piercingly. Then he took off down the hallway. He always had to run off somewhere.

**...**

The theatre had always freaked Todd out. It reminded him of when he was a child and his parents had taken him against his will to an opera that he couldn't place the name of. Todd knew that bad things always happened at operas (hello, had his parents never _seen _Godfather III or Batman Begins?!)

He had sat next to his parents as adorable young Todd in a little tuxedo hiding behind his tiny fingers because his parents had refused to leave and "waste their hard earned money" when he had asked. Frankly, the loud Italian vocals and strange masks and outfits just made him incredibly frightened. He had been scarred ever since.

The entire hall was silent. He walked down the smooth carpeted aisles and ran his hand over the red velvet seats. The stage was lit with bright white spotlights and it was eerily quiet.

_I'm doing this for Neil. I'm doing this for Neil. _Todd repeated this to himself.

Neil jumped onto the stage. "HI TODD!" Todd yelped in fright.

Todd sat down in one of the plush red seats to steady his pounding heart. "Damnit, Neil. Why would you scare me like that?" Todd's hand was at his chest and he was breathing heavily.

Neil brushed the comment off and looked at him excitedly, holding a piece of paper in his hand.

"Actually Todd, for what I wanted to show you, I'm going to need your help. Up here." Todd looked at Neil hesitantly. "Oh come on, Todd. I know you'd much rather fade into the background but sometimes you have to carpe diem," Neil tapped his foot impatiently.

_Right. Carpe diem. _Todd took Neil's hand and hopped up onto the scratched black floor. The lights were even hotter up there and Todd began to sweat. He was holding hands with Neil Perry in the place he feared the most. Everything was intensified.

"Okay. So you can just stand here," Neil dropped his hand and walked a few steps backwards. Neil straightened the paper in his hand with a flourish.

Neil began to read his favorite Shakespearean poem like a true actor:

_O Mistress mine, where are you roaming?_

_O stay and hear! your true-love's coming_

_That can sing both high and low;_

_Trip no further, pretty sweeting,_

_Journeys end in lovers' meeting—_

_Every wise man's son doth know._

_What is love? 'tis not hereafter;_

_Present mirth hath present laughter;_

_What's to come is still unsure:_

_In delay there lies no plenty,—_

_Then come kiss me, Sweet-and-twenty,_

_Youth's a stuff will not endure._

He bowed theatrically. "Wow, Neil. That was incredible. Whatever play you're doing that for, you'll do great," Todd said honestly.

Neil's head bent down with laughter. "Todd, that poem wasn't for a play. I picked it out for you... Because I... love you."

Todd couldn't believe what he was hearing. Neil Perry had just recited a Shakespeare poem to him, on stage, on Valentine's Day.

Todd looked at him in disbelief. "So this is what you had planned all day?"

Neil smiled sheepishly. "Yeah... I was thinking of doing a grand gesture. But simplicity seemed more powerful, you know?"

Todd's mind swirled with lights and colors and love. Mostly love, for Neil was his one and only. Todd was never spontaneous; but in romance, one tends to free themselves from reservation. Todd grasped the back of Neil's neck in his clammy palm and pulled Neil to his lips.

The clash of their smooth lips was electric. The room spun around them as they melted into it; kissing and moaning, Neil's hands flying up to Todd's face and his tongue sliding in ever so gently.

Neil had never kissed anyone with as much passion as he was kissing Todd because girls never kissed like this. It was an entirely different experience kissing someone of the same sex; like being encircled in silken perfection that was familiar and comfortable without a pressure in the world. Neil kissed him with more fervor now; as if he was afraid he would lose Todd if he didn't keep contact as much as he could.

Todd was enjoying the heat of the moment just as much as Neil. Todd Anderson now knew what the movies meant when they said that kissing someone felt like fireworks or getting struck by lightning. He began to float into the sky on Neil's pink rose petal lips; breathless and thirsting for more and more even though he had it all already. Todd couldn't break apart from him; Neil was too magnetic.

Finally they pulled apart, panting from the sweltering, obsessive kissing and already thirsting, aching for more of each other. Pure lust and adoration seeped from every pore; raw, animalistic desire coursed in every vein.

_Journeys end in lover's meeting_

_What's to come is still unsure..._


End file.
